When Something That Doesn't Seem Right Really Is Right
Friday, February 17, 2017One of our staff recently remarked that a local highway department was “wasting time and money” filling wet potholes with cold patch on a cold rainy day. I flashed back to a similar day last century when I looked out my dorm window and saw a Champaign Public Works crew doing the same thing. Because I knew what was right, and I like to be helpful, I called CPW to let them know that their crew was “wasting time and money”. The silence on the other end of the line let me know that my assistance was NOT helpful – hrmpff, government!
Since that wet April morning in 1980 something, I’ve been blessed to have worked with many governments, at all levels, and in different countries. I’ve learned a lot more than I knew when I knew everything and what I know now is that when you’re serving the public, doing something now, especially when safety is involved, is almost always better than waiting until the weather, or the funding, or the engineering is perfect enough to effectuate a perfect, long lasting, cost-effective solution. As engineers, we’re hard-wired to offer this latter response EVERY time, but we have to respect our clients’ judgement when something less is requested because they are the ones on the front line with the public.
Just something to think about...
Have a beautiful day!
Howard
